To this point, it's kind of felt like this was the last year Jaire Alexander was going to suit up for the Green Bay Packers.
As talented as Alexander's been in Green Bay, staying on the field has been a major concern, and the Packers' star corner missed over half the season this year.
And then, when the Packers' season ended, Alexander's refusal to do media on locker room clean out days – because "he had nothing good to say" – seemed to seal his fate. All signs were pointing towards a separation, which, at some point, turned into a hypothetical trade for Maxx Crosby? Packers Twitter sure does have a nice imagination.
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And if there were any Packers fans holding out hope that the two sides may figure it out, GM Brian Gutekunst prrrrrrobably ended that once and for all during his end-of-season press conference on Thursday afternoon. When asked about Alexander's future with the team, Gutekunst laid on the GM Speak heavy before subtly suggesting that they wished him the best.
Brian Gutekunst admits the Packers have a Jaire Alexander dilemma on their hands
Can the Packers afford to keep Alexander and his big contract despite missing so much time?
"Yeah, I think we'll work through that. Certainly we can [afford to keep him]," he said. I know it's been really frustrating, not only for him as a player but us as a club. When you have a player who's done what he's done for us in the past and then not being able to get him out on the field consistently. That's tough ... We're at the beginning stages of gathering information as a whole before we start looking at next year and how we're going to lay this thing out. We could. When he's healthy and he's ready to play, he's a pretty good player."
This isn't the most important part of this conversation, but how are the Packers just now in the beginning stages of gathering information?
Alexander hasn't played since early November. But the tone of this answer doesn't leave a whole lot of confusion. The Packers need to overhaul their secondary, and as talented as Alexander is, it seems like this is a classic case of both sides wanting a change of scenery.